ABU DHABI has restructured its water and energy sector, incorporating both the emirate’s Water & Electricity Authority (ADWEA) and Regulation & Supervision Bureau into a newly created Department of Energy.[1] This follows Sheikh Khalifa’s establishment of several new government departments for the emirate.
The new department will also inherit majority stakes in desalination projects held by the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), in which ADWEA owns a 74% share.
INDIA – The Gujarat state government plans to build a seawater desalination plant near Jodiya town in the coastal Jamnagar district, with a capacity of 100,000 m3/d. A team comprised of Essel Infrastructure and Abeima has emerged as the low bidder for the contract. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani stated that the government set up the plant in an effort to ameliorate acute water scarcity that afflicts the region during the summer.
Earlier this month the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation also announced plans for a 50,000 m3/d desalination plant in the Petrochemicals & Petroleum Investment Region (PCPIR) in Bharuch, where high tides lead to water stoppages for industry on a regular basis.[2]
The Golden Bridge in Bharuch, Gujarat. Credit: Uttarpradesh.org
KENYA – Mombasa County has awarded contracts to a Almar Water Solutions (Spain) and Aquaswiss (Switzerland) to design, build, and operate two new desalination facilities. The plants will have design capacities of 100,000 m3/d and 40,000 m3/d, and are expected to produce a total of 130,000 m3/d, with construction slated to begin in June 2018. One plant will be located in the North mainland region, in Nyali or Kisuani, and the other in the south, at Likoni. Three desalination plants were originally planned, but the third was abandoned due to high costs.
Mombasa County is facing a water crisis as its water demand of 180,000 m3/d far outstrips the 43,000m3/d that it currently receives from the Baricho Dam in Kilifi County.[3]
GLOBAL WATER SUPPLIES – A WaterAid study has found that since 2000 the proportion of the world’s population with access to clean water has increased from 81 percent to 89 percent, but water inequality is rising in many water-stressed nations, with competition over aquifers often occurring between poor communities and agricultural or industrial users.
The report warns that countries around the world have much progress to make in order to meet the UN’s sustainable development goal 6, which aims to provide clean water and sanitation to everyone by 2030. Progress has been the greatest in large developing nations. In China, for instance, an additional 334 million people acquired access to water between 2000 and 2015.[4]
[1] “Abu Dhabi’s utility folded into new energy department-spokesman”, Reuters.com, March 25, 2018. <https://www.reuters.com/article/emirates-adwea/abu-dhabis-utility-folded-into-new-energy-department-spokesman-idUSL8N1R7040> accessed March 26, 2018.
[2] “Gujarat govt to set up 100 mld seawater desalination plant”, business-standard.com, March 25, 2018. <http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/gujarat-govt-to-set-up-100-mld-seawater-desalination-plant-118032500464_1.html> accessed March 26, 2018; “GIDC to set up 50 MLD desalination plant for Bharuch, Dahej industries”, Indiatimes.com, March 11, 2018. <https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/surat/gidc-to-set-up-50-mld-desalination-plant-for-bharuch-dahej-industries/articleshow/63250374.cms>, accessed March 28, 2018; Global Water Intelligence
[3] “Mombasa picks two firms to desalinate ocean water”, Nation.co.ke, March 25, 2018. <https://www.nation.co.ke/news/Plants-to-desalinate-sea-water-picked/1056-4357438-6wjsuz/index.html> accessed March 27, 2018.
[4] “More than 800m people need to travel 30 mins for safe water, report finds,” The Guardian, March 21, 2018, <https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/mar/21/more-than-800m-people-need-to-travel-30-mins-for-safe-water-report-finds> accessed March 25, 2018.